Porsche 718 Boxster EV on track for 2025 reveal
The all-electric Porsche sports car has been spotted with less camouflage
Development of the next-generation, pure-electric Porsche 718 Boxster has been ongoing for a few years now, but we’ve just got our best look yet at the new Porsche convertible EV. Despite the camouflage, we can already spot some key design details to go with the bodywork that has clearly evolved from the current petrol-powered, mid-engined Boxster.
Porsche CEO, Oliver Blume, previously spoke on the firm’s aspirations to create an electric version of the Boxster and Cayman during a business update way back in early 2022. “In the middle of the decade, we want to electrify this series. We want to make the 718 series exclusively electric.”
The electric Boxster and Cayman have already been previewed in part by the Mission R concept revealed in 2021. “Mission R will be an inspiration for the series of our 718 mid-engined sports car”, Blume added.
From these new spy shots, we can see that the Porsche Boxster EV will gain Porsche’s new-look headlight design - influenced by the Taycan and the recently unveiled Macan EV. We can also see the elongated wheelbase featuring surprisingly long overhangs front and rear. The front bumper retains the same air intakes - which should be similar in design to those on the upcoming facelifted 911.
The fake exhaust to the rear has been ditched and there are a few air vents behind the rear wheels, too. The two ridges behind the fabric roof have also been lost to create a smoother rear ‘bonnet’. A new full-width LED light bar will be on show at the rear - a common trait amongst all-electric Porsches.
The additional bodywork running from behind the door to the rear axle reveals the longer wheelbase necessary to fit a battery pack similar in size and layout to the Mission R’s 82kWh unit.
When it comes to the 718 model line’s new architecture, Blume has said: “We’re going to have one platform for our two-door sports cars and the platform for our four-door sports cars.” He also confirmed that production of the Boxster and Cayman will continue at the Zuffenhausen plant in Germany. Since then, we know that four-door sports cars, a ‘city SUV’, ‘large SUV’ (Cayenne EV) will sit on the latest PPE platform (which underpins the new Macan EV). Small sports cars from Porsche, like the Boxster and Cayman EVs, will get a bespoke platform.
Both the Mission R and the subsequent Cayman GT4 ePerformance feature an 82kWh battery pack supported by a dual electric motor setup developing 1,073bhp. This setup enables 0-62mph in just 2.5 seconds, and a top speed of 180mph. The electric Cayman and Boxster aren’t likely to replicate this level of performance (that’ll be left to the GT 911 models), but we can expect figures that improve upon the current 718 Boxtser’s 4.5-second 0-62mph time to compete with Lotus’ electric sports car.
Unlike many contemporary EVs - which utilise an underfloor battery - the Mission R has been developed with a battery stack behind the passenger cell, creating a similar layout and weight distribution to a mid-engined sports car using an internal combustion engine. This also means that the seating position remains low-slung, as is traditional in the class.
Just as it’s done with the GT4 and GT4 RS versions of the current car, Porsche could look to offer a high-performance, track-honed version of the new Cayman with a similar power output and dual-motor setup to the Mission R, but single-motor variants driving the rear axle only, and providing fast road car levels of performance with decent usable range will be the priority for engineers.
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